The present invention aims at avoiding the disadvantages of the solutions of the hereabove cited technique by providing improvements thereto.
Consequently, the object of the present invention is an apparatus for filling crates with objects, notably fruits, floating in water, which includes a tank filled with water, a crate which can be immersed in the tank, means for bringing the objects transported by the water to said crate, and a pump providing for the continuous circulation of the water through said tank, the objects being distributed in the immersed crate until it is completely full, said apparatus being characterized in that the means for feeding the objects to said crate include a cylindrical opening provided in a massive plate covering the upper portion of the crate, the upper surface of the plate being provided with profiled guides for channeling the objects floating on the liquid and incoming from the feeding channel toward the cylindrical opening.
According to a feature of this invention, the dimensions of the massive plate correspond to the inner dimensions of the tank, and the plate is surrounded by a flexible seal ensuring a seal between its upper surface and its lower surface.